THE green movements greatest triumph  the abolition of ozone-destroying CFC gases in the 1980s  may become its biggest embarrassment because of research showing that their replacements are sharply accelerating global warming.

CFC, or chlorofluorocarbon, gases were widely deployed in air-conditioning and refrigeration units before they were found to destroy the ozone layer and banned under the 1987 Montreal protocol.

They were replaced by HFCs  hydrofluorocarbons  gases that have far less effect on ozone but have since been revealed as extremely powerful greenhouse gases.

A ton of HFC23 used in refrigeration has the same global warming potential as 14,800 . tons of CO2 A ton of HFC-134a, widely used in vehicle air-conditioning units, is equivalent to 1,430 tons of CO2. The problem has been increased by the rising demand for refrigeration and air-conditioning because of economic expansion and population growth in Asia.

Related Links 'Lives at risk' in failure to fight ozone High ozone is negating role of plants A study out this week will warn that, by 2050, HFCs could account for up to 19% of global warming. By 2050, the contribution of HFCs to global warming will be more than that of current global CO2 emissions from houses and office buildings, said Guus Velders of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, who did the research.

The contribution of HFCs to global warming is currently small, but can increase to between 9% and 19% of the total contribution by 2050. CO2 He found...

--SNIP--

Comment# 2: Has anyone done a computer model on the effect to the economy should Global warming turn out to be a load of nonsense. ?

Would we get a rebate of all of the enviromental taxes that we have paid at the behest of 'our great leader' ?.

More incoherent nonsense from an Environment Editor, it's amazing. They just lecture nonsense, man is guilty and drop dead. They can't bother to proofread. They never build a convincing scientific argument.

"CFC, or chlorofluorocarbon, gases were widely deployed in air-conditioning and refrigeration units before they were found to destroy the ozone layer and banned under the 1987 Montreal protocol. "

Let's say you hold the patent on a product that has NO COMPETITION- there is NOTHING else like it.

The market is worth BILLIONS per year.

And you patent is about to expire... What do you do?

You secretly spend millions get your OWN PRODUCT banned because it 'harms the ozone layer" and then market a similar product that is not nearly as good, and is much more caustic... and ONLY YOU HAVE THE PATENT.

The Antarctic Ozone Hole (AOH) was never “theorized” but discovered in 1985 and explained only much later. Its causes are still not completely understood.

According to the official UN report of 2002, stratospheric chlorine is still rising. No matter: The size of the AOH has been controlled by changing weather patterns rather than by chlorine levels.

In spite of theoretical predictions, there has been no direct observational evidence for a steady increase of ultraviolet radiation at the Earth’s surface. Therefore all imagined impacts cited in the editorial — skin cancers, cataracts, etc. — are based on speculation.

The economic impact on GDP of phasing out CFCs (”freons”) has .. been minor. But that’s not true for fossil fuels... (The impact has been great for those motorists forced to replace their car air-conditioning system because of a small leak. I should know; it cost me nearly $1000.)

“By 1987, when the Montreal Protocol (to phase out CFCs) was concluded, the published data showed no increase in stratospheric chlorine, an ozone-destroying chemical, and therefore no evidence for a human influence. In fact, the chief US negotiator Richard Benedick bragged that he was able to pull off the Montreal Accord without any backing from science. I quote from his book Ozone Diplomacy: “Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the treaty was............[that it] rested on scientific theories rather than on firm data.”

[] Stripping away the sheen, April 4, 2000
Reviewer: A reader
This book is one of a handful that have appeared in the years since the Montreal Protocol that have addressed the motivations behind those that acted to bring the protocol into being. It questions the simple thesis that it was simply an attempt to introduce environmental protection for one of the Earths damaged resources, suggesting instead that the primary motivation was more economically defined. the primary actors each had something to be gained in seeing a ban on CFC’s in favour of their (generally more expensive) alternative. In this regard it presents a mass of evidence that might come as a surprise to those who believed that the treaty was a hopeful first step towards international agreements to benefit the Earth’s environment, and it is a surprise that is unlikely to be a pleasant one. It does no-one any good to hide from the truth however, and the volume is thus a worthwhile read, as well as a useful pointer towards further reading around this area.

8
posted on 06/28/2009 10:56:28 AM PDT
by Matchett-PI
(Obama has entered the "cracking stage" of his presidency. ~ Gagdad)

For David Doniger, the climate-policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, these results indicate that when it comes to the environment, “global treaties work.” But he holds that the battle to curb ozone-depleting chemicals isn’t over.

Production of another potent ozone-eater - methyl bromide - initially was to have ended in 2000. Farmers use the compound as a fumigant and the Environmental Protection Agency continues to grant waivers for its production and use in the US.

The asthma inhalers Albuterol, (Obama breath a lizers!!) have been replaced, and I dont find them as effective a rescue inhaler, they dont seem to propel the inhalant as far into the lungs

Many people don't find them as effective. Some people find that HFA inhalers make their asthma worse. When I first tried an HFA inhaler, I got the worst asthma attack I have had in years! And, the FDA did not follow its own testing protocols. http://www.savecfcinhalers.org/

This is what I heard several years ago but haven’t been able to document it; Dupont had the patent on the old Freon and it was about to expire. So, let’s create a catastrophe (global warming scare) to give excuse to change over to the new and improved refrigerant (which they own the patent for). How convieeeeeenient!

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